KU to determine plan to search for new Medical Center leader

After the top official at Kansas University Medical Center announced she will leave her position earlier than previously thought, university leaders are beginning to identify how the search for her replacement will be conducted.

Barbara Atkinson, executive dean of the KU School of Medicine and executive vice chancellor of KUMC, will step down June 30, 18 months ahead of her previously announced timetable. An already-formed search committee for the medical dean position will also look for candidates for the executive vice chancellor, and will be restructured to pursue that recruitment. Edward Ellerbeck, a KUMC professor and the committee’s chairman, said several of its dean candidates could also be a good fit for the executive vice chancellor position. KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little has indicated a desire to separate the two roles.

Steven Stites, KUMC’s interim leader and chairman of its internal medicine department, said in a message to campus that he will not be a candidate for the permanent position.